If you want to invest in a franchise, it’s important to follow a process to ensure you pick the right business opportunity for your needs, income desires, and lifestyle choices. This can take time, so don’t be in a hurry. After all, this business may take up a significant investment in time and capital. So, understanding that making an intelligent, informed determination is paramount. Rockwell Birch’s path to discovery called “Finding Your True North” will help you ensure the right road is chosen for your situation.
* Know Your Skills – Understanding your skill set and how a franchise can fill the void in other areas is truly a benefit of franchise ownership. Find that fit that allows your skills to shine and build on your passions; not every concept will be right. Every industry requires project management, sales, accounting or marketing skills. You do not need to be an expert in all these to run a successful business, because the franchisor provides systems and processes to provide for or train in these and many other areas. In fact, you may find business concepts that you did not originally consider, so keep an open mind. Melding your skill set with that of the franchisors systems and processes is paramount in maximizing your success.
* Know How Much You Want to Earn and the Asset you are Creating – One thing people often don’t think of is the need to understand how much they want to earn per year. Is that number possible with your choices? What if you want to be an absentee owner; will you still be able to earn the type of profit that you want to earn? Find out what others are earning in the same business in the same sized town before you make a choice to invest. And let’s not forget that successful businesses are building wealth and that asset can be sold in the future.
* Know Your Start-Up Budget – How much money do you have to get started and have you thought about how you are going to fund the opportunity? This is super-important, because you don’t want to start out looking at opportunities that will not meet your needs or that you will not be prepared to have the time needed to become profitable. Rockwell Birch can help narrow the search and supply third party professionals to help fine tune this aspect of the search process.
* Research Several Franchises – Even if you’re sure you know what type of business you want to invest in, it’s important to research several franchises that are similar. In fact, using a Certified Franchise Consultant that may bring ideas that you never thought of to help inspire the search further. And remember to compare a few concepts you like to help find out which one may be the best fit.
* Meet Other Franchise Owners – When you’ve narrowed down your choice to just a couple franchises, you should ask for a list of five to ten owners and set up time to talk to them all. Putting together a list of questions to ask each one and then go over them with your Rockwell Birch consultant.
* Visit the Headquarters – Often you can do things long distance, but you should probably visit the headquarters when possible. This is usually called “Discovery Day” which is when you meet the team at the franchisor’s office that you will be helping you build your business. You will meet marketing, training, coaches, and upper management. This is generally when you will be making the final determination of which brand you chose. Remember they are also looking for the right candidates to award the right to run their business system and become part of the team.
* Look for an Attorney – When you’re ready to read over the paperwork, it’s time to get an attorney. Talk with someone experienced in franchise law so that they can look over all the paperwork, and answer questions. We can help with a third-party referral should you like.
* Determination Time – Finally, when your due diligence is done it would be time to ask yourself is this the right fit? You have looked at your skill set and passions, investigated concepts, talked to the franchisors and franchisee owners, and talked to an attorney for advice. Now when the documents are completed, you begin training and get started. Before you know it, you’ll be running your business and making a difference in your future.
Congratulations, no more PTO requests. You are now building and creating Your future.
By Rich Groark
A Rockwell Birch Certified Franchise Consultant